Pitch an Imprint!

[Timothy Hunter]

As of the past few years, DC has instituted numerous imprints, aside from their typical Vertigo brand: Young Animal, Sandman Universe, DC Zoom, DC Ink, Wonder Comics, and Black Label.

Pitch an imprint. List the titles you would have underneath this imprint, with synopses and creative teams included, and a common theme binding all of the comics together.

[Pohzee]

Tales of the DC Universe.

Standalone stories that take place during the pre-generational era of DC's history. Not dependent on current continuity. Set whenever they want. Just stories set in older eras. But NO origin retellings. Enough of those. Lean into the camp if you want, don't if you don't. This is essentially a way for writers to tell good stories unshackled by bad editorial without feeling the need to create elseword stories. It also would provide new readers with the ability to familiarize themselves with the past of the DCU without having to go bad and read old and dated stories, which is unappealing to new readers.

I'd ideally like artist like Michael Cho, Lee Weeks, Doc Shaner and other clean, non-house artists for the stories.

No ongoing series, just short arcs and oversize one-shots that can easily be collected as thin trades. No standardization for story length though.

I'd avoid revisionist authors who would try to rewrite the past. This is just about writing solid stories to enjoy that period of DC history.

Obviously as a Dick Grayson fan I would like some old fashion Batman and Robin Dynamic Duo stories in the vein of Scarecrow: Year One and Fab Five Teen Titans stories told in a more contemporary fashion. And maybe some stories of Barry and Wally as Kid Flash working together. But I'd be down for about anything.

[CaptCleghorn]

Cancelled Comic Cavalcade

Like what Vertigo has done with old titles and using them for 80pg giants full of short stories, CCC takes old titles and updates them as original graphic novels in trade paperback format.

Two immediate titles would be All-Star Comics with old-style JSA stories using different talent of each character's chapter. The other is Whiz Comics, each "issue" presenting a different team's take on the Shazam franchise with stories for each character.

Other books may include Brave and the Bold with teamups focusing on, but not exclusively featuring, Batman.

[Timothy Hunter]

Fun!

A pop up imprint dedicated to exploring contemporary takes on the Golden Age period of the DC Universe. Some titles are sophisticated and subversive, some titles are more traditional, but all detail a vivid image of this fabled period of time in DC History.

Curated by Jeph Loeb

Titles and creative teams:

JSA
Written by Jeph Loeb; (Fill-Ins by James Tynion, Mark Russel, and Matt Wagner)

Art by Alex Ross, (Fill-Ins by Sebastian Fiumara, Nick Darington, and Chris Weston

The magnum opus, the centerpiece of the Fun! Comics line. While on it's surface, merely a retelling of the rise and fall of the original JSA by Jeph Loeb and Alex Ross, this JSA ongoing is far more than that, bearing witness to the 1940s DC Universe as a whole, exploring how this chaotic era in the history of man was altered by the presence of the world's first superheroes.

The series will be divided into 4 creative teams, (with Loeb and Ross being the main one, while everyone else is restrained to one shots), to paint different and distinct perspectives. The following creative teams will be:
Jeph Loeb and Alex Ross, setting forth the history of the first iteration of the JSA

James Tynion and Sebastian Fiumara tell the tale of the man who invented the 'superhero' as we know it, Lee Travis, the Crimson Avenger.

Mark Russel and Nick Derrington give us a look inside how everyday citizens were impacted by the JSA.

Matt Wagner and Chris Weston provide the villain's perspective on the Golden Age.


Flash: Jay Garrick (Miniseries)

Written by Jeph Loeb

Art by Tim Sale

Provides an origin story for Garrick.

Zatarra (Graphic Novel)

Writing and Art by Daniel Clowes

An outsiders glimpse into the career of the esteemed and mysterious Zatara - - - and his never before disclosed secrets.

Green Lantern Mystery Theatre (Graphic Novel)

Written by Matt Wagner

Art by Bill Sienkiewicz

After being afflicted with a mysterious ailment, Alan Scott has one hour to live. In order to find an antidote, Wesley Dodds must transport inside Scott's psyche in order to save him. The two heroes meet each other in the former's subconscious, as they travel from the realm of Dreams to the realm of Death, and catch a glimpse of what is to come of the Green Lanterns.

[jetengine]

Dc : Solaris

Its a kind of Anthology thing with Solaris the evil sun from the 853rd century hosting it, using his prodigious cosmic powers to look bsck in time at varioys heroes to try and understand heroism and do research for his eventual take over of earth.

[Superfly Frankenstein]

Legacy Comics:

This would be a line spotlighting legacy heroes and such.

Green Lantern Corps
Written by Matt Fraction with art by Stuart Immenon (I can’t spell that name, lol)
Here we have Kyle and Guy protecting the universe and, from time to time, defending Earth from alien attackers.

Flash: Fastest Man Alive
Written by Joe Kelly with art by Rags Morales
Wally West and his returned family protect keystone with the help of guests like Jay Garrick, Jessie Quick and others.

Arrow
By Greg Rucka with art by Tom Raney.
Conner Hawke travels the world righting wrongs and forging alliances.

Batgirls
By Devin Grayson and Ryan Sook
With Barbara back in the spot of Oracle, Cassie and Stephanie return to the roles of Batgirls to fight crime in Gotham.

Firestorm
By Dan Jurgans and Mark Bagley
Ronnie and Jason combine to reform the Nuclear Man after the disappearance of Stein as the protect Pittsburgh from other threats.

Justice Alliance
By Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco
Kyle Rayner, Arrow, Wally, Steel, Huntress, Firestorm and Donna Troy team up to fight the battles that will protect mankind.

[iron chimp]

Something with no superheroes but instead characters like sgt rock, the losers, slam bradley, etc. Where people could tell some different stories about regular characters.

[byrd156]

Tales of the DC Universe.

Standalone stories that take place during the pre-generational era of DC's history. Not dependent on current continuity. Set whenever they want. Just stories set in older eras. But NO origin retellings. Enough of those. Lean into the camp if you want, don't if you don't. This is essentially a way for writers to tell good stories unshackled by bad editorial without feeling the need to create elseword stories. It also would provide new readers with the ability to familiarize themselves with the past of the DCU without having to go bad and read old and dated stories, which is unappealing to new readers.

I'd ideally like artist like Michael Cho, Lee Weeks, Doc Shaner and other clean, non-house artists for the stories.

No ongoing series, just short arcs and oversize one-shots that can easily be collected as thin trades. No standardization for story length though.

I'd avoid revisionist authors who would try to rewrite the past. This is just about writing solid stories to enjoy that period of DC history.

Obviously as a Dick Grayson fan I would like some old fashion Batman and Robin Dynamic Duo stories in the vein of Scarecrow: Year One and Fab Five Teen Titans stories told in a more contemporary fashion. And maybe some stories of Barry and Wally as Kid Flash working together. But I'd be down for about anything.

This is what I want pretty much.

[Timothy Hunter]

XYZ

Too many times to count have we been offered a glimpse into the near future of the DC Universe: Futures End, Armageddon 2001, etcetera. However, this imprint will give the definitive answer to the future of the DC Universe. All of the titles occur 5 years after current DC continuity, with the vast majority of the superheroes established in the Golden and Silver Age passing down their monikers to their sidekicks, reformed villains, or other parties.

This imprint will run congruently with the standard timeline with Bruce Wayne Batman, Clark Kent Superman, Barry Allen Flash etcetera. In ten years into the history of the imprint, the period established here will supersede the status quo we see today. All of this is an effort to move the DC Universe forward from the stagnation of decades past with the same characters.

In order for this line to gain mainstream acceptance, all of the titles will be sold weekly in not just comic book stores, but also grocery stores, movie theaters, and vending machines (think DC's collaboration with Walmart but on a FD far wider scale. In order for these comics to be affordable to a wide, mainstream audience, all of the books (unless otherwise noted) will be in black and white and printed on cheap paper.

[Jim Kelly]

Something with no superheroes but instead characters like sgt rock, the losers, slam bradley, etc. Where people could tell some different stories about regular characters.

That's the imprint I would want most of all. But I don't know what name it could have that would really sell it.

[iron chimp]

That's the imprint I would want most of all. But I don't know what name it could have that would really sell it.

What other characters would you like to see on it?

I cant think of a name for it either. National / Burbank / Low Quality / hard boiled / boilerplate .. but "ideas" like that are the reason i dont work in marketing. I do know though that seeing Dc writers let off the leash to write some other genres free from the "universe" will produce some interesting books.

[Jim Kelly]

Characters like Nathaniel Dusk, Bat Lash, Johnny Peril, Lady Danger, Mademoiselle Marie, Enemy Ace, King Faraday, Rex the Wonder Dog, Nighthawk, Beverly Hills, the Dingbats of Danger Street, the Human Target, Nemesis, Thriller.

I'd like to name the imprint after Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson in some way, as he was a writer of pulp adventure stories before he started National (which later became DC). Perhaps an imprint called the Major.

[iron chimp]

Good idea. Plenty scope there for writers and artists to go wild with different genres. Sadly it feels like "the universe", toys, tv, and film spin offs are more important than the actual comics sometimes these days

[Timothy Hunter]

Characters like Nathaniel Dusk, Bat Lash, Johnny Peril, Lady Danger, Mademoiselle Marie, Enemy Ace, King Faraday, Rex the Wonder Dog, Nighthawk, Beverly Hills, the Dingbats of Danger Street, the Human Target, Nemesis, Thriller.

I'd like to name the imprint after Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson in some way, as he was a writer of pulp adventure stories before he started National (which later became DC). Perhaps an imprint called the Major.

Major Comics maybe?

[godisawesome]

ELSEWORLDS

Pretty simple: just resurrect the old concept and line as a creator showcase year round, hosting several different books where a creator was given a character and told to do whatever crazy stuff popped in their head. One difference from the old format: creators can stop and start arcs when ever they want, so you can pick up a story years after everyone thought it was finished.

Ideas for the line:

Justice League Deluge - on a world 96% flooded by water of varying amounts of toxicity, the familiar heroes and villains of DC clash in a throwback Diesel Punk story featuring pulp concepts like gigantic airships, floating cities, retro-style robots, and Art Deco out the wazoo. Aquaman’s the most powerful hero because Atlantis is now the undisputed super-power, Superman is the working class hero of the Flying City of Tommorrow, Metropolis, Wonder Woman leads the Amazons in keeping the peace between everyone for their survival, the Order of the Bat fights for Justice from the darkest skies to the darkest depths, the Flash guards the artificial farm barges that keep everyone alive, and Green Lantern is a heroic Waylon Jones, in a world where his amphibious nature is an asset.

Luther Triumphant - Lex Luther defeated Superman years ago. With no one to impede his plans, he successfully tightened his grip on a Metropolis, and expanded to near global control and killing most remaining heroes. But now no one stands between the dangers of super-science and space except for Luther himself, and he is faced with the horror of trying to be a hero to a world that knows exactly how much he isn’t one. He must contend/cooperate with Lois’s protege and surrogate daughter Karen Lane, Power Girl, and a one-eyed and devious Dick Grayson, head of Spyral.

Manhunters: Galaxy Lost - The Guardians of the Galaxy have died. Their sworn soldiers and enforcers, the Manhunters, now must take up responsibility for maintaining order and peace in the Galaxy. But whispers start to ring among the Manhunter ranks... one of their own is responsible. How can this be? And what of this secret project the Guardians kept form their creations, this Ion Entity?